"America has two great dominant strands of political thought - conservatism,
which, at its very best, draws lines that should not be crossed;
and progressivism, which, at its very best, breaks down barriers that
should never have been erected."
-- Bill Clinton, Dedication of the Clinton Presidential Library, November 2004

The former Vermont governor will announce his candidacy for the Democratic nomination today in his home town of Burlington.

In addition, The Post has learned that Dean has in fact been running for president for more than a year. This finding is based on numerous statements from Dean, including "I'm running for president," "I want to be president," "I intend to be the nominee of this party" and "I'm going to beat George Bush." Dean has made these statements at gatherings that closely resemble campaign events, dozens of which occurred in Iowa and New Hampshire.

But despite appearances, Dean has not been running for president, says Courtney O'Donnell, a spokeswoman for the former governor. Rather, "he's been having a dialogue with the American people," says O'Donnell, one of about 70 staffers who have been hired to help Dean have his dialogue with the American people. She confirms that Dean plans to formally announce his candidacy today.

Those of you lucky enough to actually attend in person, please do share your experiences and impressions with the rest of us!

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Obama 2008 - I want my country back

About Nation-Building

Nation-Building was founded by Aziz Poonawalla in August 2002 under the name Dean Nation. Dean Nation was the very
first weblog devoted to a presidential candidate, Howard Dean, and became the vanguard of the Dean netroot phenomenon, raising
over $40,000 for the Dean campaign, pioneering the use of Meetup, and enjoying the attention of the campaign itself, with Joe Trippi
a regular reader (and sometime commentor). Howard Dean himself even left a comment once. Dean Nation was a group weblog effort and counts
among its alumni many of the progressive blogsphere's leading talent including Jerome Armstrong, Matthew Yglesias, and Ezra Klein. After
the election in 2004, the blog refocused onto the theme of "purple politics",
formally changing its name to Nation-Building in June 2006.
The primary focus of the blog is on articulating
purple-state policy at home and
pragmatic liberal interventionism abroad.